Plans Gone Awry

The Pittsburgh Panthers were supposed to rebuild this year. Jamie Dixon was supposed to take the 2009-2010 season to give his men some experience before they began Big East domination again.

No one really likes plans anyways.

After losing Sam Young, Levance Fields, and DeJuan Blair to the NBA it looked like this year would be nothing but a bust for the Panthers. Dixon would have good talent on the floor, but it would be developing talent.

That talent is sitting at the top of the Big East ladder right now, thanks to another big conference win. In Connecticut on Wednesday night, the Panthers got up early on the Huskies and were only behind once, by a measly one point.

The team grabbed the victory, and then later held on to it, in large part to foul shots. Pitt shot 85% at the line; they made six straight foul shots to close out the game and keep UCONN from making any sort of comeback.

Rebounding has also been their friend. Pitt outrebounded the Huskies 40-31 last night, and 26-13 in the second half. The sheer physicality of the group is shown at the boards as well as on the floor—quite literally. What impresses me most about Pittsburgh this year is the way in which they play the game. When a ball becomes loose, players leap on the floor to grab it. After a loose ball found its way from the sidelines to the paint, one Pitt player bounded to the center of the floor, fell on the ball, and immediately signaled for a timeout. That was probably the best play I saw all night.

Pittsburgh is 14-2 and undefeated in conference play. They have accumulated wins over Connecticut, Cincinnati, DePaul , and of course dealt Syracuse their first loss of the season. What’s even more impressive is that the Panthers have done it on the road. It is the 12th time in school history that the team has had three conference games in a row on the road. It is just the first time in school history that the team has won all three games.

So for all you who threw out the Panthers and only gave them the status of a rebuilding season, I would watch out. After being snubbed in Sports Illustrated’s college basketball preview, the Panthers have clawed their way into legitimate talk of playing deep into March.

Pittsburgh is a tough team. Get ready to fight as you’re looking up at them on the AP polls.